Quality of Life
by damonkeygirl
Summary: All bets are off when four members of the crew are stranded off ship when Destiny jumped back into FTL. On the ship factions form from the least provocations & for the stranded differences must be put aside in order to survive and get back to Destiny.
1. Teaser

Summary: All bets are off when four members of the crew are stranded off ship when _Destiny _jumped back into FTL. On the ship factions form from the least provocations and for the stranded, they must put aside their differences in order to survive in their attempt to catch of with the Destiny.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for Lyle, he's mine!

Characters: Rush, Greer, Scott, TJ.

Note: This is just the teaser, full chapters should be up either on the weekend or Monday. Once finals/semester is over, and I'll have nothing but time to write. Also note, it will be explained, but I use a phenomenon found in a Season 1 episode of Stargate SG-1. I don't want to explain further now, as not to spoil too much, this event will be explained, but it might be easier to understand if you've seen this episode. I'll put the title of this episode in a later chapter.

~*~

The clock was ticking, literally, and they knew it. Several figures were in an all out sprint towards the still active gate. Leading the pack was Sgt. Greer who was almost to the gate radioed ahead to _Destiny. _"Destiny this is Greer. We are almost to the gate, six still to proceed through the gate."

"Copy that Sergeant. You have one minute."

Greer approached the gate and glanced back towards the approaching figures. Lt. James and Brody were almost to the gate; once they got there they ran through, no hesitation. Glancing at his watch Greer swore sharply. He stepped closer to the event horizon and stuck his arm through.

Still several hundred feet away were TJ, Scott, and Rush limping between the two, using the other's shoulders for support. Taking his eyes of the trio Greer glanced towards the sky. The black clouds were rolling and had been thundering in for the past few hours.

Rain had only just begun to pour, in addition to the lightening storm that had been raging for the past hour, which had started the bug-out. Unfortunately, several minutes after they had headed back to the gate Rush had got tripped up by the terrain and according to TJ, broken his ankle, which slowed the group down heading back to the gate.

Glancing at his watch again Greer swore again. They were already two minutes after_ Destiny _should be in FTL. They had never pushed it this far before, no one knew when the gate would shut down. Rush speculated the full 38 minutes would be available to them, but the gate had been open almost that long already.

Finally the trio reached the gate and proceeded through with Greer. Right as they were passing through the puddle, a bolt of lightening struck the gate.

~*~

On _Destiny _the gate abruptly shut down, steam hissing out the vents of the side violently. Then the ship jumped to FTL, still short four people.

~*~


	2. Part I, Chapter 1

**Note**: I know, it's still terrible short, but that should get better in time, right now it's still a bit of exposition and setting the scene. No guarantees on regular posts, at the _worst_, I'll strive for once every week or two. I know that's sounds horrible, but hopefully it'll be more often than that. I have it all planned out, so now it's just a matter of writing.

* * *

With a soft grunt Sgt Greer sat up slowly. Scanning the area slowly three things became apparent to him. This was not _Destiny_, nor was it the planet he just left, and thirdly he was alone.

Greer stood up and reached for his sidearm, just in case, only to find it wasn't there. Neither was his backup. Growing worried Greer glanced around again, this time noticing a shuffling figure a few hundred yards away, on a tree line.

Breaking off in a run towards it, Greer flipped on his radio. Calling through it he tried desperately to contact someone, but to no avail.

When he got close enough to the movement Greer could see it was an animal, which was sniffing and licking an unmoving body.

When he was thirty or so feet away the creature ran off quickly, and Greer slowed down his pace at first watching where it went, but then sped up when he focused in on the body.

Kneeling down next to the blond he placed his hand on her neck. To his relief there was a pulse, strong and regular. A cursory check revealed no apparent injuries, also no reason for TJ to be unconscious.

Greer took note her weapons were missing as well, but her pack remained at her side, seemingly untouched. His head snapped up quickly at the snap of twig in the area. Not taking any chances he prepared to move.

Hurriedly, Greer clipped the medical pack with his things, then he slipped his arms underneath TJ's limp body and lifted her up, running further away from the direction he came from.

~*~

Satisfied they were far enough away, Greer set TJ down on the ground gently and paced in a circle in the clearing he had found. An hour or so later he stopped when he heard a startled gasp from the woman on the ground.

"Lieutenant." He addressed, kneeling down next to her.

"Where are we?" she asked, taking in her surroundings.

"No idea. We stepped trough the gate to _Destiny_. But, obviously-" Greer shrugged.

TJ thought for a moment, digesting this information. "Scott and Rush?"

"Haven't seen them. They could be anywhere. They may not even be on this planet."

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't know. We ended up here instead of on _Destiny_, no guarantees they made it there, or here, either."

TJ nodded. "So what's the plan?"

Greer chuckled. "Don't really have much of one. I was reading in that direction," he pointed, "when I stopped."

"Why were you heading that way, or anywhere for that matter?"

"Heard a noise, though it might be better to run away from any aliens, then to meet up with them."

"That's probably a good idea."

Greer held a hand out to her, which she took, standing up. "So shall we?" she gestured.

They started walking of in the direction, into the unknown.


	3. Part I, Chapter 2

This should be the last kinda short chapter.

Thanks for the reviews so far!

* * *

The sweet and tangy scent of the hanging air was strong enough, and quite pungent enough to poison the largest of creatures. And yet it didn't. The sticky smell floated in the air passing through the breathing apparatus attached to the man's face. Keeping a regular tempo, keeping a regular intake. Sustaining a life, from the toxins around it.

The man, kept a bent head, for he was tall, a rarity amongst his race. His head bent quite low to avoid the hanging pipes and various devices, hanging from the ceiling, and protruding from the wall.

Steam flowed rather freely out of several. A reaction he had hoped not to see, for the vapor, rusty red in color, was causing the intoxicating smell.

Scowling softly to himself, he reached up with a patch, slapping it on the largest of the flows, stemming the release of gas to some degree. It helped some, but not enough.

Keeping his eye on the same pipe he continued down the hall, around the corner, and up the stairs. Until he found the origin of the pipe, the reaction would not cease, and the whole building could become contaminated with the toxins.

Already several had fallen ill from the smoke. While it seems quite harmless at first, the red air was quite deadly with prolonged exposure.

That's what Nivt detested about these old buildings, most parts of the city were kept up-to-date and fairly modern with pipe-less systems, others were where part of the old realm still stood, and it was there Nivt now found himself.

Inside the Building of Loc'na Studies, a place where everything that came through was examined for Karien design. If it contained such, it was destroyed, immediately.

Unless of course it was alive. Those were studied even closer, and if they were capable of speech and communication, information was extracted, one-way or another.

That was why the current repair was so important. Two Kariens had come through last time the Loc'na had been opened. Both were injured, and mighty susceptible to diseases of many kinds as those studying them had already discovered.

In an attempt to revive the fallen warriors, Tegath, who had been in charge at the time, administered the injection of one of their strongest concoctions. Instead of waking up however, one of the two nearly died and the other bled out. Thankfully, both were soon stabilized. No other attempts were made to heal them.

Glancing up, Nivt located the end of the pipe. Joyfully he replaced the filters at the end with a stronger substance than before. Waiting a few moments the red smoke ceased to be produced from the pipe, and they air, while still musty, began to clear.

Satisfied Nivt left the building, forgetting from his mind, all he saw there, just as he had been directed. Forgetting that even had been a leak in the filters, misused chemicals, two Kariens who had come tumbling through the Loc'na. The same two Kariens Nivt had seen with his very eyes, which looked nothing like any of the Kariens he had seen previously.

But as he was directed, he wiped it from his mind. For all in all, it was unimportant, to him at least.


	4. Part I, Chapter 3

**Note: **What to say . . . what to say . . . Sorry about the wait. Real life said no. Illness and FRC said no. Homework said no. Today, this tiny break, said yes. So as the yes's have it, an update! Still writing, don't worry about that, it will be finished. Eventually. Viele Dank for all the reviews so far!

* * *

He was running. That's all he seemed capable of doing, running. The ground made a soft squish underneath with every boot step. Squish, squish. He kept running.

Slowly the surroundings of where he was running began filling with images beyond his control. He saw faces and places appearing before him. He kept running. Always running.

It was a defense mechanism. If you were being chased physically, running would be your best option until you could come up with a better plan. Mentally, running into the far reaches of your mind kept your thoughts off of what lay ahead. What tortures and tasks lie before you.

He kept running. Always running.

As he ran the ground began to change. A squish with a step, turned into a stomp, and walls of trees were replaced with walls of concrete, then walls of an unknown. Nothing more was distinguishable. Somewhere in the far strands of his mind, he knew he should question it.

But instead of listening and running, he stopped and questioned. As he did he paid for it dearly. Pain wafted through his head. A sharp stabbing pain proceeded to pound its way into his temple.

It was searching and looking. Exploring. More images floated through his mind. His training, life on Earth, Icarus, Destiny.

The pain became more intense as his mind focused on Earth. Something about the memories seemed wrong and tainted. He glanced around to find nothing.

Then, the pain ceased. Letting out a feral scream he woke up.

~*~

Lt. Scott's brain was too muddled to comprehend anything as his yell jolted him upright, and that thing out of his mind.

Slowly his thoughts dawned on him, something had been in his mind. Search for information, daring to remember he thought back.

The memories brought no pain; he had recalled Earth, nothing more.

Minutes later, or it could have been hours, his concept of time shattered, he raised his head from his hands.

Already adjusted to the dim conditions his eyes rapidly scanned the tiny room for any sign of _anything._

It was a simple room. Barren and stripped down further than the basic essentials. It had four walls, and there probably was a door somewhere, however Scott couldn't see one.

What he could tell, was that he was not alone.

At first he had thought there was nothing in the room besides him. There had been complete and utterly crushing. The room was as quiet as a tomb, a house of death. And from what he could see now, a house of death it was.

Three bodies lay rotting in the corner, each in various states of decomposition. The first gave off a putrid smell. The second hadn't been dead at most a day, the smell no match for the first but horrid just the same. His swath black hair matted to his skull, the leaking fluids of the maiden above him gluing it to his face.

The final body had to have died to more that mere moments before, the touches of life still present in her features. Her eyes peered out of their sockets, unseeing, gazing at Scott just the same.

Tearing his sight from the pile of bodies, he looked to the figure to his life. The only living being in the room besides him self, also being the only one he knew, but he would not call him a friend.

But in this circumstance, Scott felt his heart turning. Reaching out he placed a hand lightly on the forehead of his comrade. Upon contact He jerked his hand away startled, the heat radiating was immense.

Fully alert now Scott peered closer at the man, searching for open injuries that could be causing an infection. However, nothing jumped out at him, but as he laid the arm back down, he saw a tiny prick in it, near the crook of the elbow. Peering closer he deduced it was the result of a needle like device.

Sighing Scott laid the man's arm back down gently. Rubbing a hand across his face it hit him.

They were stranded.

He remembered nothing of coming out of the gate. He left the planet with TJ, Rush, and Greer and then he had woken up here moments, or hours, before. Wherever he was, he knew two things.

One, this was not _Destiny_, and the chances of returning were slim.

And two, probably the only person who could figure out such a feat was lying next to him, half de-

A soft grunt of pain broke his train of thought and his head wiped around to the left.

Rush had woken up.


	5. Part I, Chapter 4

Every so sorry about the long wait, my muse left me, and life ate me. But, spring break is very helpful and I just sat down and tried to write, and it worked. A few things about this chapter: I call Eli's Kino/Grav/Floating Sled thing, a grav sled. This exsists somewhere before Justice. And yes I realize Brody's POV wouldn't get all of that but hey, I wanted to tell that part of the story. (You'll see what I mean once you read.)

Enjoy

~*~

Eli watched in shocked silence as the gate abruptly shut off, the smoke venting rapidly and more profusely than normal. It was still pouring out as the ship jumped into FTL, and long after.

The haze was so thick he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of his console, and sniffed at the smoke cautiously. It smelled different. Normally, the white stuff briefly entered the air and then dissipated, leaving a sight ozone smell in the air, now that smell was ridiculously pungent and present alongside a new smell as well.

It was something completely new to Eli's nose however, for he couldn't put a name to the foul taste it left in his mouth, and he deduced it was a slightly charred smell, in a mix with the ozone, and a burning alien substance.

There was no sound in the gate room, not even a person coughing. Moments passed and slowly the smoke cleared and Eli took in the faces of everyone present. Brody was peering over the other console to Eli's right, a rag placed over his nose and mouth as he scanned the screens.

Lt. James couldn't settle her eyes as they swept the room, back and forth rapidly, worriedly; the brown orbs often coming to rest on the Gate at the end of the room.

Two others were present in the room as well. Passing glances between themselves, angry eyes of Col. Yung and Camille Wray met. Confused faces and concern were there too, but not as prevalent. They wanted answers.

"What happened?" Young barked out to the room, but mostly addressed to his officer.

"I- I don't know Sir." James replied truthfully.

"You don't know? Were they or were they not following you and Dr. Brody back through the gate Lieutenant?"

"Yes Sir. They-"

"Then they should have made it back through the Gate, am I right Lieutenant?"

"I don-"

"You know something Lieutenant. There has to be a reason behind this!"

"It's not her fault." Brody interrupted. "There could be any number of reasons why the gate shut down before they could pass though. We don't really even know how the system responds to someone keeping it from shutting down."

"So, that's it? That it was only a matter of time before someone pushed their luck too far and they got cut off?"

"Maybe, maybe not. There's no way to tell from here what happened."

"Find out!" Young snapped as he turned and walked briskly from the room. Camille Wray rushing after him like a lost puppy.

"'Find out'" Brody muttered vehemently. "What does it even matter? We can't get them back." Brody stormed from the gate room off in the direction of the mess, and away from the control interface room.

~*~

"Colonel!" Wray shouted at the officer, hurrying to catch up to his quick pace. He slowed minutely to allow her to catch up. "Dr. Brody is right. There's no way to determine what went on from this end of the gate."

"The hell there isn't." He stopped and turned to face her. "There is no reason for anyone to be left behind, no reason for two people to make it back here, but not the others."

"Lt. James and Dr. Brody were just trying to get back, Colonel, by the sounds of things, Lt. Greer was waiting for the others."

"It doesn't matter if he was, she –"

"What difference does it make?" Wray interjected. "We thousands of miles away from there already. She blames herself, anyone looking at her can see that. She doesn't need that reinforced from you."

"Yeah, and I don't need you telling me how to handle officers under my command." Young walked off, turning a deaf ear to Wray's continued protests.

~*~

Eli walked into the mess late that evening, ever-present Kino remote in hand, the floating orb a few meters behind.

At this late hour Eli was surprised to see anyone in the mess, let alone four. Each person sat in a different corner of the room, brooding silently to themselves.

Lieutenant James sat the closest to Eli and sat spoon in hand, absentmindedly stirring the glop in front of her. Her eyes looked at the white stuff, but never saw it, the events of the day playing over and over in her mind.

Sergeant Lyle sat across from Becker, both of whom sat unmoving.

Sitting at table to himself across the room was Brody. He had a small notebook in front of the him on the table and was scowling at it, as he attempted to read the contents.

Eli, choose to go over and sit across from Brody. "Hey." He greeted quietly.

"Hey Eli," Brody returned, a slight smile flashed on his lips, before returning to the previous scowl.

"What are you looking at?" Eli asked, swiftly running his fingers over the Kino controls, maneuvering it to peer over Brody's shoulder at the notebook.

"Nothing, nothing." Brody quickly hid the pad of paper in his pocket. "What do you need Eli?"

Eli shrugged, "Just curious about what happened on the planet I guess."

"Not you too." Brody sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.

"Young?"

"And Wray. They both hounded me for information a couple of hours ago."

"What'd you tell them?"

"What happened, as far as I knew, minus a few details."

"'Minus a few details?'"

"Young had no desire to hear about the technology we found there, he only had an ear for how we could have left three of his officers behind."

"And Rush too."

"Young didn't even mention Rush."

'Wray?"

"Pretty much the same thing, only she phrase her interrogation nicer, and was concerned about all four of them."

"So what did happen on the planet?" Eli asked. "You know, before you were coming back."

~*~

Approx 4 Hours Earlier. Alien Planet.

Overhead clouds rolled in, setting up a charge in the air that everyone could feel. Booming thunder could be heard across the city, and for miles beyond it. The tense atmosphere of the weather fit perfectly.

This was the first planet they had been to with any sort of technology present, and in abundance. The ruins of an ancient city lay bare in front of them. It wasn't an Ancient city, not by any means, but there was evidence of similar technological devices everywhere.

However, few of these devices were in working order. But to everyone's surprise, a console had been found in working condition. The monitor had only one page of text to display, or it was frozen on that screen. The text was unlike anything they had ever seen, and impossible to translate. Rush had given up quickly on the console considering it useless in the current state.

After that first discovery Lieutenant Scott split up the team into pairs to explore the city. The first group, Volker and Sergeant Lyle had found and underground body of water, which prompted a quick celebration, which in turned resulted in Lyle slipping in a puddle and breaking his arm. Using several grav sleds brought through from _Destiny_, and containers for water Brody and James worked on transporting water back to the ship.

Scott and Greer were out exploring the city, as were TJ and Rush. The former had come across many signs that the city had been the place of a battle before hand. A careful eye kept them wary of the mines that littered the city, three of which had already been accidently set off; seven others flagged to avoid another casualty.

Growing impatient with the lack of anything useful in the city besides water, Scott reached up and hit the button on his radio. "TJ, report."

"Nothing yet, have you found anything?"

"Negative."

TJ stopped as Rush did, radio still in her hand. She watched his towards an object off to their left. As she stepped forward she saw something on the ground. "Stop!"

But the warning came to late; Rush had advanced forward to closer inspect the writing on the wall, without noticing what was underfoot. Turning his head toward the blonde he saw her shocked expression. Following her gaze he noticed what she was starring it. Directly under his left foot was a pressure switch of sorts, another land mine.

TJ stood frozen several feet away from Rush, who stood unmoving as well. Suddenly she blinked and shook her head and activated her radio. "Scott, we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"We found another land mine."

"So flag it like the others and move on."

"We can't"

"Why not?" Scott questioned.

"Rush is standing on it.

Lightening crackled overhead, loudly.

~~**~~

Scott and Greer were already running before TJ finished the sentence.

About a half hour later they approach TJ and Rush cautiously, as if the bomb would go off with the added presence on another person. Scott kneeled down next to Rush to get a better look at the device. "It looks just like the other ones."

"So what do we do?" TJ asked.

"Maybe we could hold the switch down with something." Greer suggested.

"With what?"

Scott looked around them trying to get an idea. Realization passed across his face. "The grav sled!"

"Of course, that should have enough weight!" TJ exclaimed. Then her face fell. "Would you be able to go get it in time?"

"Maybe, if they're coming back to get more water, then yeah." Scott took off running.

~~**~~

One Hour Later.

Scott returned guiding the sled with the remote and immediately tried to set his plan into action. His plan involved nothing more that just setting the sled down on the edge of the plate, but on closer inspection of the sled, he realized it would be impossible. The Kinos on the underside were contained by a lip, and the Kinos were the lowest point, making it uneven underneath.

Realizing his dilemma Rush spoke up. "Fly the sled towards me, and have the Kinos fly out from underneath, the momentum should carry it far enough to hopefully land on the plate."

"Are you sure?" Scoot look skeptical.

"Not at all, but it's the only thing we can do in the time we have."

"Well, I guess we try it then." Scott brought the sled back ten of so feet from where Rush was standing, and leveled it several feet above the ground.

Using the remote he managed to navigate it exactly how he wanted it too, however in landing it on the plate he hit Rush in the process.

Rush groaned as he sat up his hand reaching above his left ankle. TJ came over and gingerly peeled back his pant leg, underneath there was a nasty discoloration already starting to form.

"TJ, we don't have time to do anything about it now." Scott informed her. He motioned for Greer to start of towards the gate, before notifying Brody and James by radio to head back.

TJ stood up, looping Rush's arm over her shoulder and pulled him up as well. Scott flanked him on the other side, and the set off towards the gate as fast as they could.

~*~


	6. Part I, Chapter 5

Many Thoughts:

1. Sorry 'bout the wait, a bowl of crap landed on my lap, etc. I just couldn't force myself to write at the time.

2. I have decided to put this story of hiatus for now. Why? Reason A: A few other much shorter story ideas have come up, and I might be able to get the out in one shot or two, not like 20+. Reason b: (If you haven't seen Lost yet, run away) . . . Is because almost my whole plot is very similar to Lost, not so much with the ruins, however, the return was, sorta. I had the planet hopping down to a tee, and such. I am working on a bit of a rewrite, from where I leave you today, 'til the end.

3. Thanks for all the reviews and the support, they really are a mood lifter. :)

Anyway, as I said. Sorry about the wait. Sorry about the next one. I don't know when I'll get to this. But I'll delete this story before I abandon it, so don't worry.

It'll be back.

Staying light on their toes Greer and TJ crept through the forest for hours. The foliage resembled that of Earth like plants, however the creatures residing in them were far from it.

Noting these beings in the back of her mind TJ kept right behind Greer every step of the way.

About midday _Destiny _time, which appeared to be dusk on the planet, they witnessed the first signs of a more intelligent life form. Structures in the forms of huts, and a small stone building lay just on the horizon.

The slowed to a halt at the forest's edge some 100 yards from the clearing, obviously man made, to discuss how to proceed further.

"So what do you think?" Greer spoke aloud.

"Maybe we should just try outright approaching someone."

"And if they're hostile?"

"And if they're not, and we ignore possibly our only chance of finding Scott and Rush? Or a way back?"

Greer scoffed. "What are the chances of them speaking English?"

"Well, maybe Ancient then – "

"And do you speak Ancient?" Greer interjected. He then pointed at the cluster of structures. "Do you even see any people?"

"No." TJ realized. "Do you think anyone even lives here?"

Greer didn't answer, his gaze fixed on something of in the distance.

"Sergeant." TJ placed a hand on his shoulder. "What is it?"

"No. I doubt anyone lives here."

"Why?"

"That." Greer answered pointing out at a faint outline of a cityscape poking up from the 'east,' the sun behind the buildings creating an easy to see silhouette.

"Should we head there?" TJ asked.

Greer just nodded before setting off towards the horizon. As they were passing the passed the single stone structure of the village. Greer paused an peered inside. He nudged TJ. "Look at that."

Inside the building stood a single screen on the wall, a black inverse pyramid hanging form the ceiling. Everything else was bare.

"A computer?" TJ asked.

"Maybe." Greer responded simply, moving towards it.

"Greer, wait!" Tj was peering upward at the device on the ceiling, which had moved when Greer did.

Greer stopped immediately, directly underneath the pyramid. It reacted fast. The point spilt open and desended upon Greer, resealing the point at his feet.

"Greer!"


End file.
